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    Case Study

    De Agostini: Repurposing the business & the family

    By Benoit F. Leleux, Marta Widz and Guido Corbetta
    20 pages
    June 2019
    Order this case study
    Reference: IMD-7-2072

    MILAN (ITALY), SEPTEMBER 2018. The Strategic Lab at De Agostini, part strategic think-tank and part assessment tool for the next-generation talent of the Drago-Boroli family, owners of De Agostini, was brainstorming the future direction of the diversified, family-owned group. After almost 100 years in the publishing and printing business, the third-generation family leader Marco Drago set the family firm on a radical new course, which included globalization and diversification across media and communication, gaming, and financial services to create a powerhouse, with entities listed on three different stock exchanges. However, diversification did not come without its challenges. Could portfolio repurposing also serve to anchor the family’s identity? Were family values properly embedded in the current structures and investments? Should the holding structure be perennialized or be treated as a temporary arrangement until the next major liquidity event, when assets would again be refocused on a single industry? Did the legacy publishing business still serve a purpose or should it be disposed of? Emotional ties ran deep, but so did the losses… and those were not sustainable. Could it be turned around or pivoted to capture the latest digitalization wave?

    Learning Objective
    • strategic pivoting of the family business
    • repurposing of the business
    • managing the legacy
    • training the next generation
    • managing succession
    Keywords
    Family Business, Strategy, Sustainability, Succession Management, Next Generation, Portfolio Management, Pivoting, Culture, Legacy
    Settings
    World/global, Italy
    De Agostini, Media, Business Management Services, Communication, Finance and Insurance, Financial Services
    2017-2018
    Type
    Field Research
    Copyright
    © 2019
    Available Languages
    English
    Related material
    Teaching note, Video
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